BOCA RATON, Fla.  NHL general managers seem to expect to come out of Wednesday's meetings with a recommendation for a new league standard designed to eliminate head shots, such as the one that resulted in Boston Bruins center Marc Savard being carried off the ice on a stretcher Sunday night.

"We will be redefining it and fine-tuning it (Wednesday), but clearly the blindside and the unsuspecting players is what we are targeting," Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said.

If a rules change is recommended, it likely will include harsher supplemental discipline, particularly for repeat offenders.

"I feel good. ... I think we are going to come up with something to address the issues we have with the safety of our players," Holmgren said.

The theory, if the eight-man committee was able to reach a consensus, then the 30-person group would do the same.

"We had a wide scope (in the group) in terms of how they look at the game," Holmgren said. "If you compare Brian Burke to Darcy Regier, they are going to look at the game differently."

Any recommendation made by the general managers would have to be approved this summer by the competition committee, which includes four players. Then it would have to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors.

"If we do move forward with this, it's going to take some time for players to educate themselves and feel good about this as well," Holmgren said.

Nieuwendyk said he believes GMs are on the same page.

"I don't think we are re-inventing the wheel," he said, "but I think it's going to be for the good of the game."

Meanwhile, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Savard's prognosis is still unknown and he will see a specialist today. However, he said it's possible Savard, who was hit in the head by Pittsburgh Penguins winger Matt Cooke's shoulder, could be gone for the season.

"Based on the evidence we have — he lost consciousness and he had memory loss — that points to a significant concussion," Chiarelli said.

NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell is reviewing the matter. If Cooke is to be suspended, the ruling would come down Wednesday.

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